What to watch from the Sweet 16 of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament

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CNN
 — 

It’s been three long days, but the men’s NCAA tournament returns Thursday with 16 teams just two wins away from the Final Four.

Four games are set for both Thursday and Friday, setting the stage for a weekend of high-pressure college hoops.

Here are five things to watch from the Sweet 16:

The team that everyone loves to hate might be unstoppable.

Led by Cooper Flagg, a finalist for the Naismith Trophy as the best player in men’s college hoops, the Blue Devils absolutely rolled through the first weekend of the tournament. First, it was a 93-49 trouncing of Mount St. Mary’s in the opening round and then – on a day full of drama in most of the other games – it was an 89-66 stomping of Baylor that sent them to the Sweet 16.

The scariest thing for Duke’s opponents is the number of options they have that can beat you. Sure, everyone is thinking about Flagg, but the standout player of the opening weekend was Tyrese Proctor, who scored 25 and 19 points against Baylor and Mount St. Mary’s, respectively. If you slow either of them down, Kon Knueppel – the freshman who averaged 14.1 points per game in the regular season – might take up the scoring mantle instead.

So far, the Blue Devils have improved on their regular season shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage and dropped their turnovers in their opening two games of the tournament. If Arizona and star guard Caleb Love – a transfer who once played against the Blue Devils at archrival North Carolina – can’t slow down Duke’s well-oiled machine, then head coach Jon Scheyer may have an easy path to San Antonio and the Final Four.

“This is just something I dreamed about ever since I was a little kid,” Flagg said Wednesday of playing in the NCAA…

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Source link : https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/27/sport/sweet-16-what-to-watch-spt

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Publish date : 2025-03-27 11:00:00

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